Triathlon Tuesday: What Doesn't Kill You...

At the end of 2012, I was finishing Primal Instinct so I could send it to the editor who had requested it. I was also training for the Disney Marathon (that was coming in January 2013).

I remember saying to myself: I can train for a marathon or I can write a book, but I can't really do both. Not with everything else I have going on in my life.

Awwww... I look back on the girl I was eighteen months ago and cannot help but want to smile and pat her on the head. Bless her little heart.

I registered for the 2014 Ironman Florida (IMFL) race on November 3, 2013. At the time I was looking for a challenge and felt like this was a good time in my life to do something as difficult as an Ironman (2.4 mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run). And I'd sold my first book, but hadn't heard anything about writing any more for Harlequin, so I would have time to train.

True story: three days after I signed up for IMFL, I got a call from Harlequin. They wanted me to write four books in nine months.

So now, instead of just writing ONE book and training for JUST a marathon, I would be writing FOUR books and training for one of the  THE HARDEST EVENTS ON THE PLANET.

Please excuse my yelling. And hang on while I wipe the spittle off my screen.

I've been doing my best to keep my cool, keep my head on straight, keep my eye on the prize (really, any number of "keep my..." adages apply) during the last few months.

I have four school-aged kids (each with their requisite activities; and a teenager who I'm discovering needs more one-on-one attention than a toddler), a full-time job teaching college (although, admittedly that is not a 9-5 job), am training for an Ironman Triathlon (which currently takes 8-10 hours/week, but will eventually take 18-20 hours/week in August & September), and am writing four novels.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

People ask me a lot how I manage to get everything done. 

I usually reply jokingly that sleep is overrated. (But the truth is, I love sleep and rarely get less than eight hours a night. I'm very protective of my sleep. Seriously.)

Here's the truth about how I get everything done:
1. I pretty much completely eliminated television from my schedule this spring. I watched one show: The Blacklist because I just couldn't help myself. In 2014 I have sadly said goodbye to: The Walking Dead, Almost Human, The Vampire Diaries, New Girl, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (although dang it, it looks like it finally got good), Nashville, Modern Family, and How I Met Your Mother.

Television is a time-sucker and does very little good in terms of stimulating creativity for me. Once I stopped watching it, I found I didn't really miss it.

2. I said no. No, I cannot be the chair of that committee at work. No, I cannot play sixteen different games of Words-With-Friends. No, I cannot be responsible for the entire bookfair at my kids' elementary school. No, I won't write that bi-weekly newsletter. Please contact me again after November 1 (once the Ironman is done, and my Omega Sector books are completed).


3. I get up earlier and go to bed earlier. This was hard for me. I liked my I'm-a-night-owl-artistic-type-so-I-will-regularly-stay-up-until-3am mentality. No. Now I'm getting up each morning usually before 6am and getting two hours of either writing or workouts done in the morning. I'm exhausted by 9pm every night, but that's okay, because I'm not trying to have my creative or physical juices flowing then. I'm just hanging out and chillin' with the fam. And I'm asleep by 10:00.

And the schedule doesn't end just because it's the weekend. Same thing. Although maybe starting at 7am.

4. My family is starting to work together as a team. I can't do everything, and my family is awesome, so everyone helps out. Kid #1 can do laundry. Kid #3 is an excellent cook. Kid #4, God bless her, wants to help as much as she can and often does stuff without me asking. Kid #2... well, he pretty much stays outside playing as much as possible. He's figured out if I can't see him, I don't ask him to do stuff.

Hubby helps out as much as possible too. And most of all, almost never complains about the fact that I constantly talk about stuff like chafing, blisters, core strength, and different flavors of Gatorade.

Would I do it all again this way if I had the option to go back? No. For the love of all that is chocolate... no, no, no. I would not sign up for IMFL for 2014 or would spread out my book deadlines further or not have so many kids. Or something.

But it is this way, and I've got to get it done. So I am. One day at a time.

My Writing Space - Jane Hunt

I'm continuing my series about something that interests me personally: writing spaces. I love to hear about that creative nook writers make for themselves in order to encourage the word-smithing genius. Therefore I've asked some of my author friends to share a picture and description of their personal writing spaces. 

My guest for this week is Jane Hunt, whom I've never met in person -- perhaps due to us living on different continents, but had the pleasure of getting to know during Harlequin's 2012 SYTYCW contest. (I still cringe when I think of my insanity with that contest -- seriously, I think Harlequin revamped the entire competition after hearing about the things I'd done last year.) Neither Jane nor I were finalists that writing contest, but both of us went on to successfully publish 2014. (You can ignore the hint of "nanny-nanny-boo-boo" in my tone).

Jane's first novel THE DRAGON LEGACY ("a sensual paranormal romance" -- sounds yummy!) will be released in January 2014 through Crimson Frost Books.

From the Desk of Jane Hunt:
Hi Janie thanks for inviting me to talk about my writing work space today.

I have an office on the second floor of our three storey house. In the summer I love to write in the garden or in the summerhouse. It has been known for me to write in bed if it's cold and rainy outside. I have shared the office since I started writing full time a year ago. I gained exclusive use of this work space in August when my husband moved into the garden office. I have roof top views of the surrounding countryside but ideally I would love to overlook hills and lakes. Well I can dream.  

My work space has a modern desk, bookcases and lots of ornaments. I share the space with my dogs Jazz and Oby they are wonderful company when I am writing for long periods of time. My favourite office possession is my Laptop a Christmas present from my children last year. Something I couldn't live without. I also adore my collection of ornaments given to me by my mother. I particularly love the desk and typewriter teapot and the secret garden. My keep calm plaque from my daughter always makes me smile.  

My desk although functional is the part of my office I like least. I would prefer an antique ladies writing desk. I came close to having one for my 30th wedding anniversary in August this year but we used the money to adopt Oby our latest dog from a rescue centre.

More about Jane Hunt:

My website is Jane Hunt Writer

First Steps is my blog.

Twitter: @ jolliffe03

Facebook pages: Jane Hunt Writer and The Dragon Legacy

Google+ Jane Hunt

Pinterest

My Writing Space - Jamie Wesley

I'm continuing my series about something that interests me personally: writing spaces. I love to hear about that creative nook writers make for themselves in order to encourage the word-smithing genius. Therefore I've asked some of my author friends to share a picture and description of their personal writing spaces. 

This week I have my online buddy and someone else who, like me, has her debut novel releasing in 2014: Jamie Wesley

From Jamie: 

This is my writing space. The desk is pretty sparse because until a few weeks ago my writing space was my couch (or a nearby branch of the city library). I didn’t have a desk chair, so I didn’t use the desk.

Yes, that’s a remote on the desk. That’s because my writing space is in my living room. There’s a TV in the background. I do have and use my office, but I like being in the living room. 

I rely heavily on three books when plotting a book. I just started a new book, so they were on my desk before I took the photos. :-)  45 Master Characters and Heroes & Heroines are great for developing my characters. I have a general sense of who the characters are before I open the craft books, but the books help flesh the characters out for me. Save the Cat is great for plotting. The structure the author advocates is simple, but highly effective.

 

Organization and writing tips: This is more for me than anyone else, but turn off the TV! Silence freaks me out, so I listen to music while writing (or have a football/baseball game playing in the background).

And because my attention span leaves something to be desired, I write in 10 minute sprints while writing the first draft. I’m not a fast typist, but I can usually get 200-300 words in 10 minutes. I take a 2-3 minute break and go again. After five 10-minute sprints in an hour, I usually have 1200-1500 words. *fist pump*

Bio: Jamie Wesley has been reading romance novels since she was about 12 when her mother left a romance novel, which a friend had given her, on the nightstand. Jamie read it instead, and the rest is history. Her first book, Tell Me Something Good, will be published by Entangled Indulgence in 2014. She can be found on Twitter @Jamie_Wesley or at www.jamiewesley.com.

My Writing Space - Barb Han

Last week I began a new series about something that interests me personally: writing spaces. I love to hear about that creative nook writers make for themselves in order to encourage the word-smithing genius. Therefore I've asked some of my author friends to share a picture and description of their personal writing spaces.

My new back-saving chair

Before we get to the Writing Space of the day -- the brilliant and beautiful Barb Han, I'd like to show you something new from my personal space...

Ta-da! After last week's post about my terrible chair (I was using a metal folding one at the time), hubby decided a proper chair was in order, so we got one. It has lumbar support and everything. Quite awesome! He also set up a fabulous monitor which is set at an angle that requires me to look out, rather than down. Much better on my neck. Plus, it somehow magically connects to my laptop across the room. Yay! 



But on to this week's real post: Barb Han's Writing Space

Where the magic happens for author Barb Han

From Barb:
My space is in the front of the house. It's a library/office, so it's filled with books (what could be better?). My desk is tucked in a bay window, so I have floor-to-ceiling windows behind me. I absolutely love it.

In my old house, I used an upstairs bedroom. It worked okay, but I felt so away from everything. When we moved a year ago, a proper work space for me was high on our list of must-haves. And I wanted something close to the heart of the house where I spend most of my time. 

There's no door, so my family feels free to drift in and out. I keep a guitar, saxophone and piano on one side of the room. I love when the kids drop in and play while I'm working. Or, if I need a break, I'll play.
 
I asked Barb for any writing tools/tips:
The best writing tool I have on my desk (other than my computer) is Story by Robert McKee. Best book on craft ever! It's my absolute bible for good storytelling. 

Barb & I at RWA this Summer

I appreciate Barb being my first guinea pig willing participant for the My Writing Space series. She is a fellow Harlequin Intrigue author (her first Intrigue release Rancher Rescue will be available February 2014) but has other novels (Caught in the Crosshair and Gone) available now. Check out her website: www.barbhan.com for more info.
 

My Writing Space

This is the first in a new series called My Writing Space.

(You can find all the posts by clicking on the My Writing Space link in the "Popular Calamity Jane Series" box to the right)

I’m hoping it will become a collection of pictures/descriptions of the places (desks, offices, coffee houses, airports, coffins, whatever) where different writers get work done. Where the magic occurs.

Where the sobbing and banging of the head against the wall happen too.

Spatial organization – oh, let’s face it: ANY type of personal organization – is appealing to me. I believe heavily in efficiency and love to hear about new tools or ways people have found to organize their time, space, lives. Writing or any other part. Yeah, it’s a little geeky. But hey, I’m a geek, no big secret there.

So I have some writer friends lined up to participate in upcoming weeks; to share about their writing spaces, tools, habits and anything else that may apply. Both my published and unpublished writing peeps, because they’re all awesome.

I’m going to try to see if I can get Nora Roberts to send me a picture of her writing space – but since she probably has a restraining order out against me from the whole RWA incident, that probably won’t happen.  Alas…

But this week, to kick it off, I thought I would start with my personal writing space.

First, let’s be clear, if I was Nora Roberts, and had sold 400 million (no kidding) copies of my books and had my own personal stalker, this would be my writing space/cabin:

Because, right? Seriously awesome.  Plus the walls come up if you need to get rid of your stalker. Helpful feature.

I didn’t have a real writing space at all until this summer. Before then, I wrote wherever: at the kitchen table, at Starbucks, but mostly on my couch with a little plastic TV tray holding my laptop. But once my back and neck started giving me problems from multiple hours of slumped-over “grandma sitting” as my hubby called it, we decided to get me a desk.

After consulting Craig’s List, this is what we came up with – a sweet, little writing desk.

We decided to put it downstairs in the corner of our living room. Our thinking was: I would be sort of out of the way, but not so far gone that our four kids would burn down the house. Plus, putting it there enabled me to meet my pathological need to have the wall at my back in order to get anything done. (Maybe my next series should be: “All the Ways Janie is Crazy”)

I also have a bulletin board and whiteboard (both which can be slid behind my entertainment center that is right next to my desk), a lamp, and a couple of motivational posters, which basically say this (but not as pretty):

My writing space is definitely still a work in process. I know I still need:

1) A better chair. The folding one I have now is terrible (it's not the one in the picture).

2) Some sort of electrical zapping device that shocks me if I start looking at Facebook or Pinterest or any other social media when I should be writing

3) A conveyer belt that will take my coffee mug over to the kitchen and refill it.

I guess nothing’s perfect. But here’s the AWESOME thing I’ve found about having a dedicated writing space:  When I sit down at my desk to write, my brain gets all serious.

Because writing is the only thing I do when I’m at this desk, there’s a kind of muscle memory that happens when I sit down here. Everything just sort of clicks on.  A dedicated writing space hasn’t solved every writing issue I have, but it has certainly been a start. And I'm glad I have it.

You know, just until Nora Roberts and I go in on our writing cabin together.

I look forward to hearing about and sharing the writing space of other authors. Next week will be fellow debut Harlequin Intrigue author, and my buddy, Barb Han. If you’re a writer and got a space (great or otherwise) you're willing to share, let me know and I’ll get you scheduled on here too.